Kevin Maguire

Kevin Maguire was a hard-nosed right winger for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres and Philadephia Flyers over 6 NHL seasons. He was a grinder, a role player, a Don Cherry favorite.

Kevin signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent prior to the 1984-85 campaign. He then spent two years with the Leafs' AHL farm club, the St. Catharines Saints of the AHL. It was in St. Catharines that Maguire came upon the man he credits for making the biggest difference in his professional hockey career: Saints coach John Brophy.

"He was the guy who got the most out of you. He just worked you and worked you and demanded you to be better and get better. It was tough years with Brophy but when you look back at it if you didn't have a guy that was so hard on you like that I may have never made it."

Kevin did make it. His first taste of NHL action came with the with the Leafs in 1986-87. Despite some spirited play, Maguire failed to pick up a point and spent most of the year in the minors. The next year he joined Buffalo as the Sabres picked up the right winger on waivers.

Kevin played almost 3 full seasons in Buffalo. He had a career year in 1988-89 when he set personal highs in points with 18 and penalty minutes with 241. Maguire's body-banging play made him a fan favorite in the small Memorial Auditorium. Maguire was traded to Philly at the trading deadline of the 1989-90 season but he only appeared in 5 games for the Orange and Black, picking up one goal.

The Leafs realized that they made a mistake letting Maguire slip away from the organization. So they reacquired the Toronto native from Philadelphia in the summer of 1990. Maguire played parts of two seasons with the Leafs. But he finished his pro career where it started - with the Leafs farm team, now located in St. John's Newfoundland.

Maguire retired at the end of 1992. He left the NHL with 59 points and 782 penalty minutes in 260 regular season games. But his career in hockey was far from over.

Maguire turned to officiating, first as a linesman and later a referee at many levels, including the National Hockey League. He later left the ice to move into a business career. His contacts in the business world must have been plentiful, as in 2009 he was acknowledged as the head of a group trying to land a second NHL franchise in the greater Toronto area.

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Jimmy Thomson

Need a text book example of a classic stay at home defenseman? Look no further than Jimmy Thomson.

A product of the St. Mikes Majors, Jimmy joined the Leafs on a full time basis in 1946-47. He was soon paired with Gus Mortson on defense, a move that proved very fruitful for the Leafs. The two rock solid blueliners helped to solidify the Leaf's supremacy for years.

Known as the "Gold Dust Twins," Mortson and Thomson starred for the Leafs. They played a rock hard style that often left cuts and bruises on any enemy who dared to enter their zone. Thomson especially was positionally perfect and a thinking man's defensive rearguard. Mortson was more of a rusher of the two, while Thomson quietly went about his work. The pairing proved to be as valuable as it was impenetrable.

Despite not scoring a goal in 6 of his 11 seasons, and only scored 19 career goals in almost 800 games, Jimmy was honored with two Second Team All Star berths - 1950 and 1951. He was a good passer as his 215 assists suggest.

In the late 1940s it was very rare for the defensemen to get very involved in the offensive attack. So while Thomson wasn't deprived of good skills, he thrived by protecting his own zone. Thomson was physical though clean. He never had over 100 minutes in penalties in one season. He did lead the league in playoff penalty minutes in 1951 with 34 minutes in 11 games.

Thomson was a big part of 4 Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup Championship. In fact those 4 championship seasons came in his first 5 NHL seasons, including three straight in 1947, 1948 and 1949.

Thomson was named as the Maple Leafs captain in 1956-57 but was traded in the summer of 1957. The Leafs became disenchanted with his active involvement in the fledgling attempts at forming a player's association. Conn Smythe questioned his loyalty and then sent him to Chicago for cash.

Thomson played just one season in Chicago before retiring in 1958. In total "Jeems" scored 234 points in 787 games and won 4 Stanley Cups.

So was Jimmy Thomson one of the best defensive d-men ever? Celebrated author/broadcaster Stan Fishcler once included him among his top ten best defensive defenseman ever. Fischler's list, from the 1983 book Hockey's 100, looks as so -

Doug Harvey
Tim Horton
Eddie Shore
Ching Johnson
Hap Day
Emile Bouchard
Jack Stewart
Dit Clapper
Jim Thomson
Ken Morrow

That is some pretty impressive company.

After a season in Chicago Thomson returned to southern Ontario and became quite successful in the home heating business.

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Gus Mortson

Gus Mortson was once one of the baddest men in hockey.

He, along with his defensive partner and fellow "Gold Dust Twin" Jim Thomson, perfected the art of defending the zone by playing the man instead of by playing the puck. They grabbed, hooked, pushed and shoved any puck carrying opponent who came into the Leafs zone. Their tactics were effective although often illegal. Mortson earned a career total of 1390 PIM in 797 games. In fact, four times he was the NHL's season penalty minute champ. Twice he was punished with lengthy suspensions for deliberately trying to injure another player

But he was also among the top defensemen. Mortson was an excellent skater and could carry the puck, and he even played left wing when he first turned pro in the minor leagues. But in the NHL he was never a tremendous offensive threat, as his career totals suggest: 46 goals and 198 points in 797 games.

"When you played hockey in our time, it wasn't so much how many goals you scored, it was how few you let be scored against you while you were on the ice," explained the New Liskeard, Ontario born Mortson. "Thomson and I, we kept track of all the goals against because that was your only arguing point when you had to go see (GM Conn) Smythe for a contract. All the years we played in Toronto, we had less than a goal against average."

The rugged defenseman joined the Maple Leafs in 1946 as part of a successful youth movement. Over the next 6 years, Mortson and the Leafs captured 4 Stanley Cups. And despite his status as one of the more hated defensemen in hockey, Gus received personal acclaim as well. In 1950 he was honored as a First Team NHL All Star. In addition, he played in 8 NHL All Star games in his career, 7 consecutively.

In 1952 the Leafs traded their prized defenseman (along with Ray Hannigan, Al Rollins and Cal Gardner) to Chicago in order to land a superstar goaltender in Harry Lumley. Mortson continue to excel in Chicago, but the team was much weaker than Toronto's team, as evidenced by the team's playoff participation in only 1 of Mortson's 6 years in the Windy City.

Mortson finished his career in 1958-59 with half a season with the Detroit Red Wings. He played another year and a half in the minor leagues, but then opted to get out of professional hockey. He successfully operated his own food brokerage business and later worked as a stock broker and sales representative for a mining operation near his home in Kirkland Lake, Ontario.

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Hap Day

Clarence "Happy" Day was born in Owen Sound Ontario on June 14, 1901. Like many other star hockey players of the 1920s and 1930s, Day grew up learning the game on the frozen ponds during harsh winter weather. Eventually that hard work paid off as he became a leader with the Midland Juniors and later with senior Hamilton Tigers.

Hockey was not the only subject that interested Day. He very much aspired to become a pharmacist. He enrolled at the University of Toronto where he eventually obtained a degree. While attending university he played for the varsity hockey club and was discovered by Toronto hockey promoter Charlie Querrie. Querrie convinced Day to turn pro.

Day, nicknamed Happy because of his cheery nature, turned pro with Toronto of the NHL, then known as the St. Pats. In Day's third year, 1926-27, Conn Smythe bought the team and changed the name to the Leafs. Smythe had great deal of respect for Day, and the two became great friends and partners.

Day was a strong and fearless player. His first three years in the league he started out at left wing, often playing on a great line with Jack Adams and Babe Dye. By year 4 he became better known as a defenseman, anchoring a Leafs blueline that also boasted King Clancy and Red Horner. He was a marvellous team player who infused lots of humour into the team's dressing room. The jolly Leafs teams during Day's stay were affectionately known as "The Gashouse Gang" because of their love for humour.

Day was always in the shadow of Clancy and Boston's Eddie Shore, but there was no doubt he was a top defenseman of his era. Offensively he was a constant threat, although unlike Clancy and Shore was never flashy. Defensively he was a genius. He was a masterful stick checker and positional player, and, along with the New York Rangers Ching Johnson, was the league's top body checker. Day was very well respected around the league, even though he employed a clutch and grab style of hockey he would later popularize as a coach, becoming a league power by using the rule-bending tactic.

Day put his heart and soul into 14 long seasons in Toronto, but his finest moment came in a game on April 2, 1932 at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Leafs needed to win by one goal to take the two-game total goals series against the Montreal Maroons. Down 2-1 late in the third period, Day, the team captain, picked the puck up in his zone and weaved through the entire Maroons team to score the overtime forcing goal. Bob Gracie scored for the Leafs in overtime to advance the Leafs to the Stanley Cup finals, where they were ultimately unceremoniously dumped by the New York Rangers.

Smythe released Day after the 1936-37 season. Not ready to quit playing, Day signed for one year with the New York Americans, and then retired. After spending 2 years as a referee, Hap, not yet ready to turn his attention to a pharmacy, returned to Toronto. In 1940 he was hired by Smythe to coach the Leafs. He would coach them for 10 years, winning the Stanley Cup 5 times! Many of his understudies would call him the greatest coach they had ever played for.

He stepped away from the bench in 1950 but remained with the team until 1957 when he retired to pursue business opportunities outside of hockey. During the 1950s he was officially titled as the assistant manger to Conn Smythe, but in reality he was the one doing most the legwork. With highly respected scoring totals for a defenseman of his era (86 goals, 202 points in 586 career games), he was enshrined in Hockey's Hall of Fame in 1961.

Few people have given more to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization than Clarence "Happy" Day, who passed away on February 17, 1990. Yet somehow he never was able to escape the shadows of Clancy and Ace Bailey while playing, nor could he escape the shadow of Conn Smythe for his contributions to the team as a coach and manager.

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